Live Below the Poverty Line Challenge

There are 1.4 billion people living in poverty worldwide — that’s four times the population of the US, according to the Live Below the Line initiative. Live Below the Line wants to challenge “the way people in the U.S. think about poverty.” The group is doing this by asking people to cut their food budget to $1.50 a day for five days starting April 29.

Would you be able to eat on $1.50 a day?

Here at BargainBabe.com, we pride ourselves on shrunken grocery bills and living frugally, but for those living in poverty, keeping a tight budget is not a choice, but a way to survive. I honestly don’t know if I’d be able to pull off eating for a week on only $7.50, but I will give it a try.

The challenge is set at $1.50 a day, because it is the equivalent of the accepted global figure used to define extreme poverty by the World Bank. Note that while you’ll only be limiting your food budget, the $1.50 covers more than just food and drink for those who live below the line. We’re talking about an entire budget, folks! It includes housing, health, transportation, food, and education. What an eye opener!

Next week, celebrities and regular folks will commit to living on the tiny food budget to raise money for charities that that fight poverty and hunger. If you’d like to donate or participate in the challenge, you can register at BelowTheLine.com.

The site includes tips and recipes for eating on a $1.50. Plus stories and videos from those who took on the challenge last year.

@The Unethical Man Nice to hear from you! I agree, living on $1.50 a day is absurd for most of us. I won’t begin to list the expenses that alone cost well over $1.50 a day for us. But even if you try to spend $1.50 a day on food alone, it is a huge challenge. I suppose if we ate rice and beans for every meal, we could do it.

I could, certainly, but that figure is distorted. People in very poor countries actually have to pay MORE for their food if they are buying it…but they are far less likely to purchase it as they are very likely to get most of their food through means other than shopping–tradings, growing it, hunting for it, etc.

@Jenny @ Frugal Guru Guide I agree that people can trade, grow, and hunt for food and they’re not necessarily buying food or eating out. Although, there are some cost to growing food, the main issue is that people are surviving (not just eating) on such small amount of money.

You will need to use a comparison that is more accurate i.e. the dollar amount you are suggesting we operate with . Use our own country’s definition of the poverty level and work within those parameters. There are far too many variables to try to “live” on the budget that the World Bank deems what is an accepted global figure. As the old adage goes “You are comparing apples to oranges” or something of that sort. What helps our household live on a very tight and frugal grocery budget is cooking from scratch, purchasing fresh fruits/vegetables when they are in season, following the stores sales flyers, stocking up on household items when sales hit rock bottom (i.e. loss leaders), really using my in stock pantry items and making a weekly budget from what I have in stock and sharing with friends when I have an abundance and vice versa, taking advantage of the numerous ways one may prepare dry beans. These are only a few suggestions to lower ones grocery budget.

@Pauline You are serious about grocery savings! I’d love to hear more about the various ways you prepare beans. We make them a few ways, but they all taste fairly similar to me. Our main uses of beans are:

-black beans in quesadillas/burritos/tacos

-chick peas/garbanzo beans in hummus

-pink beans in a Puerto Rican dish my husband makes

-pigeon peas in another Puerto Rican dish my husband makes (you can tell I don’t know his recipes – I just show up to eat!)

-occasionally I’ll add a can of chick peas to my mac n cheese, but it’s not my favorite

@Pauline Thanks for your comment! I did not come up with the challenge or the dollar amount — the Live Below the Line initiative did. Though the $1.50 may seem absurd I think the bigger picture is that people are trying to survive on nearly nothing. The challenge is supposed to make you realize how difficult it is.